Saturday, 29 October 2016

Birchbox October 2016 | Review

I'm a little behind the times with my October Birchbox review - to be honest I forgot that I had it! When I opened it, I wasn't that excited by the contents and so it sat on my kitchen table for quite a while!

I think after the huge excitement of ordering my Tili box, it was always bound to be a bit of an anti-climax. Read on to take a peek at what was inside....

So the October Birchbox was done by star sign type - Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

I'm a Gemini, so I received the Air box. While this sounds quite an exciting idea and a cool theme, I saw people posting what they had received in their boxes in some makeup groups and it was pretty much the same as mine, even though they had 'Earth' boxes.

The box was very cute and features glow in the dark stars. Each box also contained a horoscope from astrologer Susan Miller. I don't think the horoscopes were by star sign, I think it was just a generic one for everyone that featured a lot of 'this would be a good time of the month to buy beauty products' chat (oh, you don't say...)

Doux Me Pure Spring Mist

The first item I received was this water spritzer, which honesty seems so boring. And not very seasonally- appropriate! I'd be far more likely to use this kind of thing if I was going on holiday, and including it in a box at this time of year is just a bit weird.

The full size is £16 as well, which I would literally never pay- get a bottle of spring water and an empty spray bottle! There are much more comforting ways to get a bit of skin hydration in autumn than spraying yourself in the face with cold water!

I'm not a fan of this and it will be staying in my drawer until next summer!

Rituals The Ritual of Sakura Magic Touch Body Cream

This product I am much more on board with. I love Rituals - they produce my must-have body scrub. Sakura is a Japanese cherry blossom and smells absolutely gorgeous.

Your limbs definitely need some extra attention when temperatures plummet and they are stuck behind wooly jumpers and tights, and a good body cream is a year round essential.

This is an air-whipped lotion that feels light but very silky. I really enjoyed popping this on after my shower. Beautiful.

Whish Renewing Mud Mask

Although I normally like getting face masks, I feel like I've had a lot of masks recently so this kind of underwhelmed me, although who knows, it may just be my new favourite.

The masks I enjoy are more about wrinkle busting these days than deep cleansing! This one has fruit enzymes to exfoliate and brighten skin and promises to purge sluggish pores of dirt and give pollution-battered skin its glow back.

Not a bad thing to receive but I'm just a little bored of mud masks at the moment.

LOC One and Done Shadow Stick - Haute Cocoa

LOC is a brand I discovered through Birchbox when they did a lip crayon collab with one of my beauty icons, Millie Mackintosh a couple of Birchboxes ago - and I really liked it. It's been a make-up bag staple ever since, especially since I love anything in a crayon form.

So I was pleased to see this crayon for eyes, especially since out of the two colour options, I received this gorgeous metallic brown. It's nice and wearable, with a very pretty bronzed shimmer.

I can see me using this a lot to do a quick eye look in the mornings after the gym or for a weekend where you want to be a bit more glammed up but don't want to spend hours blending out four different shadows.

Birchbox has really turned me onto Loc as a brand and I definitely want to collect more.

Number 4 Fluoro5 Elixir Restore & Repair Oil

For some reason, beauty boxes seem to be crazy about hair oils, and received so many different ones over the months that my drawers are fully stocked with mini!

Ive always used Mythic Oil, because I really love the scent and it makes my hair so smooth and shiny, but I guess this could persuade me to try something different.

This isn't a brand I've come across before but I do like the sleek, almost clinical packaging and the little pump dispenser. I may start taking this with my in my handbag so I can tame any unruly strands on the go!

Birchbox Eyebrow Brush

I didn't know that Birchbox did beauty tools, and I must say this looks quite cheap and unremarkable so I'm not sure why they've bothered.

There are so many brilliant and cost effective options these days when it comes to brushes that for them to produce anything mediocre is just a lack of effort.

While brow groomers are always useful, I prefer to use a spoolie- and I don't think I've used a lash comb once in my life! So this is a bit of a useless addition to the box.

The Verdict

This month's Birchbox didn't really stand out for me. Most of the contents were quite forgettable!

Although I like the idea of an elemental starsign box, they haven't taken the theme far enough here or explained why each product suits the type its intended for.

My favourite item was the Loc shadow stick, which I am really looking forward to trying, but everything else seemed a little lacklustre this month!